Amended in Assembly May 27, 2014

Amended in Assembly April 22, 2014

Amended in Assembly April 2, 2014

California Legislature—2013–14 Regular Session

Assembly Bill No. 1539

Introduced by Assembly Member Hagman

(Coauthors: Assembly Members Brown, Nestande, and Waldron)

(Coauthor: Senator Knight)

January 22, 2014

An act to add Section 60605.4 to the Education Code, relating to content standards.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

AB 1539, as amended, Hagman. Content standards: computer science.

Existing law requires the State Board of Education to adopt statewide academically rigorous content standards, pursuant to recommendations of the Commission for the Establishment of Academic Content and Performance Standards, in core curriculum areas.

This bill would begin delete require end delete begin insert encourage end insert the Instructional Quality Commission to develop and recommend to the state board, on or before July 31, begin delete 2015, end delete begin insert 2016, end insert computer science content standards, pursuant to recommendations developed by a group of computer science experts. The bill would express that the Legislature encourages the commission to consider existing computer science content standards, including, but not begin delete necessarily end delete limited to, national K-12 computer science begin insert content end insert standards developed by the Computer Science Teachers Association. The bill would encourage the Superintendent begin insert of Public Instruction end insert , in consultation with the commission, to convene that group of experts and ensure that the group includes individuals from specified groups.

Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes. State-mandated local program: no.

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

SECTION 1.  

Section 60605.4 is added to the Education Code,
to read:

60605.4.  

(a) On or before July 31, begin delete 2015, end delete begin insert 2016, end insert the Instructional
Quality Commission is encouraged to develop and recommend to
the state begin delete board, end delete begin insert board end insert computer science content standards, pursuant
to recommendations developed by a group of computer science
experts. The Legislature encourages the Instructional Quality
Commission to consider existing computer science begin insert content end insert
standards, which include, but are not limited to, the national K-12
computer science begin insert content end insert standards developed by the Computer
Science Teachers Association, and consider content standards that
include, but are not necessarily limited to, standards for teaching
coding. For purposes of this section, “coding” is the process of
converting a program design into an accurate and detailed
representation of that program in a suitable language.

(b) (1) The Superintendent, in consultation with the Instructional
Quality Commission, is encouraged to convene the group of experts
referenced in subdivision (a), and is encouraged to ensure that the
members of the group include, but are not necessarily limited to,
all of the following:

(A) Teachers who teach computer science, including
mathematics and science teachers, in grades 7 to 12, inclusive.

(B) Schoolsite principals.

(C) School district or county office of education administrators.

(D) University professors.

(E) Representatives of private sector business or industry.

(2) The Superintendent, in consultation with the state board,
shall ensure that one-half of the members of the group are teachers
as described in subparagraph (A) of paragraph (1).

(c) The begin insert computer science end insert content standards may be used by
school districts to develop computer science programs and course
assessments but are not mandatory.